new mattress purchase - pregnant wife - Charlotte, NC area

[phoenix]

Hi Lucasd2002,

Our preferences:
We have ruled out pure memory foam. We both sleep hot so that was an easy choice. We also know that we do not want air and/or water. We are leaning toward either full-on latex or a hybrid latex and inner spring. In addition to the support, softness, and durability advantages, the hypoallergenic properties of latex appeal to us.

I think these are good “exclusions” in your case for the reasons you are suggesting.

I have never been one to have problems sleeping [knocks on wood]. In terms of sleeping positions, I sleep in all three positions. I woke up this morning after reading this site some last night and realized that as I lay on my stomach, my midsection was too far down into the mattress making my back slightly uncomfortable (maybe this is normal for this position). My mattress feels ok to me for sleeping on my back, but I may not be very aware. For sleeping on my side on our current mattress, I never feel like either my shoulder or hips sink in enough. I probably don’t have a thick enough pillow for this position either

Stomach sleeping is the “riskiest” of all the sleeping positions because of the tendency to hyperextend the spine because of hammocking. If you sleep in multiple positions then there is a conflict between the needs of side sleeping (which generally needs thicker softer comfort layers for pressure relief) and stomach sleeping (which needs thinner firmer comfort layers to keep you closer to the support layers of the mattress). In these cases … it’s generally best to choose a mattress which has “just enough” pressure relief for side sleeping to lower the risk of hammocking when you are on your stomach. Center zoning can also help in these cases with a firmer center zone helping to hold up the hips/pelvis which can allow for slightly softer comfort layers for your other positions. A “scrunchy” pillow can also make a good choice so that the conflicting needs of stomach and side sleeping can be accommodated (thin for stomach sleeping and thicker and more supportive for side sleeping).

Health concerns: I had some back problems about 15 years ago. I was diagnosed with a slipped disc (MRI was inconclusive). Luckily, it hasn’t bothered me much lately. Like many people, I don’t always find enough time to exercise and when my midsection ‘expands,’ there is more pressure and resulting discomfort in my lower back.

With a tendency towards disc issues … it becomes even more important to make sure that you have good alignment in all your sleeping positions so that the spine can maintain neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions. I would tend in these cases to put your alignment needs over pressure relief because a mattress that is slightly too firm can always be softened with a mattress pad or topper but a mattress where the support layers are too soft is much more difficult to “fix”.

She sleeps on her side and back and has always complained of back, hip, and shoulder discomfort regarding our current mattress. She says the mattress is “too firm” and doesn’t “give enough” at these pressure points. Right now, she is pregnant, which only exacerbates her problems sleeping. Between her hormones, her added weight/size, our daughter kicking her from inside, and her longstanding comfort issues with our mattress - we have decided to do some mattress shopping.

Being mostly a side and back sleeper and with her lower weight and thin body type she will likely need softer and thinner comfort layers for good pressure relief and the comfort layers in your current mattress have probably deteriorated to a point where it is too firm under all the pressure points. She won’t need comfort layers as thick as you will because of her lower weight (she won’t sink as far into the mattress).

Sometimes it can be a challenge to choose a mattress that can accommodate a big weight differential and post #2 here has some ideas that may help in what to look for. While your own personal testing will say more than “theory” a thinner softer comfort layer for her with a transition layer that functions more for support for her and for additional pressure relief for you may work well with a very firm support layer on the bottom (which would help your alignment issues while she would be more isolated from its firmness by the comfort and transition layers).

I would also make sure that you test each mattress you are seriously considering for at least 15 minutes completely relaxed in the showroom (plus whatever time it take to get into a completely relaxed pre-sleep state). Make sure you test specifically for pressure relief and for alignment separately. Pressure relief is easier to feel in a showroom because it’s not as difficult to tell when a mattress is too firm and causing some discomfort or has a feeling that you are going though into a firmer layer (especially with side sleeping) but alignment is a little more difficult to test for. Post #11 here may help with this.

Will her current state (7-8 months pregnant) alter or change her preferences for a mattress that she tries out? In other words, will a mattress that feels good to her at a store today well completely different after her pregnancy? We hope/plan to keep whatever we buy for many years.

In the later stages of pregnancy then it’s very difficult to tell what will feel good because everything is so “awkward” and different but if she is not too far along then what she needs now will likely be close to what she needs after the pregnancy. A “pregnancy pillow” or a “body pillow” can help in the later stages of pregnancy to help make up for the unusual needs for both pressure relief and support during this time and it can also help with feeding if doing this in bed is part of the plan.

We had a salesperson tell us recently that we need an inner spring to provide proper support but a foam can provide beneficial properties for comfort for upper layers. I’m not sure if he was trying to sell one of his hybrid models or if that is a typical theory/opinion.

I believe that every type of support material can provide good alignment if the overall layering of the mattress is right. While some may prefer the “feel” of an innerspring or polyfoam or latex, they are really a matter of preference and different tradeoffs (including price) rather than one being “better” than another. Innersprings, polyfoam, and latex all come in softer and firmer versions that can be either more or less supportive depending on the needs of the person. when you hear “theories” like this I tend to treat them as opinions and your own personal experience when testing mattresses “trumps” any other theory (mine included). Foam (whether polyfoam or latex foam) can be just as supportive (in the sense of firmness or resistance to compression under weight) as an innerspring and in some cases even more so depending on which type of innerspring you are comparing to which type of “foam”.

You’ve probably seen this but just in case the Charlotte “list” is in post #2 here and there are are two other manufacturers in the area that may also be worth considering although both of them have latex mattresses that may be a little on the soft side (in terms of support) for your heavier weight.

Hope this helps.

Phoenix